Putting the "Self" in "Paralyzing Self-Consciousness" since the 20th century.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Why Does She Run From Me?

I wish there was a socially-acceptable way to say "You seem lovely, person I've been talking to, but contrary to public perception I'm incredibly introverted and this conversation, fascinating as it has been, is exhausting me. May I power down in a back room for an hour or so, ideally while hanging out with a friendly domesticated animal, and come back to you afterwards without social censure?"

8 Comments:

Wow, I SO feel like that all the time. This is another of my fave things I've read on introverts that a friend of mine shared on FB: http://twentytwowords.com/2012/08/29/a-simple-explanation-of-how-to-interact-with-introverts/

Uh-oh. Dilemma: If what you do is fan-tastic, you're going to end up with fans. Some of them will declare ownership rights. As a German might put it, "Es kommt mit dem Gebiet." It comes with the territory.

That is so often how I feel. My husband told me last week that he is so glad I'm an introvert like him. I take that as a high compliment. My favorite creature to hang out with is my cat (and my introverted husband of course).

One of my book groups is reading "Quiet" by Susan Cain, which is about "the power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking." I see myself on every page. The funny thing, for me, is that the majority of this book group are verbose extroverts who wear me out in a big way! I can't wait for our meeting. Maybe I'll add a few words to the discussion, then go home and take a nap;-)

I consider pretty extroverted but I still get exhausted and overstimulated easily. I didn't realize it until I kept having to power down for 10 days at a time after tagging along on my husband's business trips to New York. My entire energy right now is focused on learning to cope with it. Which is to say, hope there's enough friendly domesticated animals in the back room for all of us.